Maryland wrestling fell to Michigan two days ago in a disappointing loss. But the Terps rebounded well against Northwestern on Sunday.
Maryland (3-2, 1-1 Big Ten) defeated Northwestern (0-2, 0-1 Big Ten), 29-15. Six individual Terps won their matchups in the collective victory.
The match started out with a loss in the opening bout for Maryland. Tommy Capul failed to find success against Massey Odiotti at the 125-pound class, as he only went in for a takedown a handful of times against Odiotti — none of which were successful. Odiotti defeated Capul in the third period with a technical fall.
Braxton Brown rebounded from his Friday performance against Michigan. After failing to secure a single takedown, Brown earned a technical fall against Patrick Adams. Brown spent most of the first two periods on Adams’ back, looking to secure the fall but unable to pin either of Adams’ shoulders. Then Brown stopped going for the fall in the final period, instead repeatedly taking down Adams, cutting him loose, and then taking him down again until he won by technical fall.
Kal Miller’s return to dual meet wrestling ended with a technical fall victory over Luis Bazan. Miller was out of the lineup Friday against Michigan after making his wrestling return at the Franklin and Marshall Lehman Open Tournament on Jan. 5 Coach Alex Clemsen cited the absence as a “health issue.” Miller never stopped looking for the fall against Bazan, and crossed the threshold in the third period for the win.
Ethen Miller kept the technical fall streak going with his victory over Aiden Vandenbush in the 149-pound bout. Miller took control in the second period, focusing attacks towards Vandenbush’s torso, after which he was firmly in the lead. Miller spent the third frame using Brown’s catch-and-release tactics to secure the technical fall.
Then came an upset at the 157-class with Michael North. North defeated Intermat’s No. 13 wrestler in the weight division, Trevor Chumbley, by fall. North managed a takedown out of what looked to be a stalemate in the second period after a scoreless first, but Chumbley tied the score late. Looking to quickly get ahead before the clock expired, Chumbley rushed North, who absorbed the attack and put Chumbley on his back, securing a fall for the Terps.
North was never fazed by the rankings gap between himself and Chumbley.
“I don’t really like to look at the rankings too much,” North said. “I don’t want it to get into my head, so I just look at it as another opponent I’ve got to wrestle.”
The Wildcats finally got back on the board in the 165-pound fight, with Maxx Mayfield securing a major decision over AJ Rodrigues. Though Rodrigues never seemed to switch tactics for a more defensive approach, he was able to stave off the technical fall even with the additional riding time point.
David Ferrante looked like he had Dom Solis on the ropes after the first period, but Maryland’s co-captain made a last-period comeback in the 174-pound fight to earn the 7-3 decision. Ferrante spent the majority of the first period on Solis’ back, but was unable to get any back points. Then came a scoreless second period. Needing three to tie, Solis escaped from the starting down position before securing a takedown at the edge of the ring. Solis secured the victory with two back points on a near fall and the riding time advantage.
“The most Dom Solis match I can think of is going down and then I start performing in the second and third period,” Solis said. “Unfortunately I don’t wrestle great in the first [period], but I know how to battle back.”
Clemsen got very involved in Chase Mielnik’s loss to Troy Fisher in the 184-pound fight, during which officials denied Mielnik a takedown that Clemsen believed he had, and called a takedown against Mielnik which Clemsen successfully challenged. Fisher stayed aggressive in the third period, and secured the lone takedown of the match to defeat Mielnik 5-2.
Jaxon Smith continued his dual meet dominance against Evan Bates, notching the fourth technical fall of the day for the Terps. Smith never gave up a single takedown, and going into the third period used a catch and release strategy to hit the 15-point threshold.
Kevin Makosy fell to Jon Halvorsen in the final bout of the day, but Maryland’s strong showing ahead of that resulted in the Terps’ team victory.
Michigan dominated Maryland — winning all but one match — just 48 hours prior, leading Clemsen to express his disapproval of the product on the mat. Against Northwestern, Clemsen was happy with the change he saw from Friday’s match.
“Today, it looked like we were the ones going out and hunting bonus points,” Clemsen said. “We were hunting for our positions from the opening whistle to whenever the match was over. And I think if we had have had that kind of effort Friday night, some matches would have been different.”
The Terps are on the road next week, visiting Ohio State on Friday and Indiana on Sunday.
